Memory (lessons 4-10)

Lesson 4.Models of Memory.The Multi-store Model.Atkins & Shriffrin (1968). Memory was comprised of 3 seperate stores; stort term memory, long term memory & sensory memory store. Each store has a specific & relatively inflexible function. Information to recall is passed through the long term memory back unto the stort term memory producing the associated response. Information first arrives at the senses; if attentions is focused on it, it is transferred to short term memory. It is equivalent to any one of those senses e.g. eye or ear.Evaluation; Good evidence to support. Good focus on structure & process. Good predictions which can be tested empirically. It's over simplistic in terms of structure. Short term memory & Long term memory not a unitary structure, Case studies KF able to recall visual information in short term memory but not verbal.Schachter (2000). Semantic memory; knowledge about the world & language. Episodic memory; what you did last week. Procedural memory; how to make a cup of tea. Perceptual representation; how to fill in the missing gaps to make a whole.Spiers (2001). 147 patients with amnesia. All had procedural & Perceptual representation intact but semantic & episodic memory loss. Long term memory not unitary.Lesson 5.Evidence to support the multi-store model.Serial Position Effect.Glanzer & Cunitz (19 66). Participants were given a list of 20 words to remember, all proceeding separately. They then had to recall the words. Participants tended to remember the words at the start of the list & end of the list due to short & long term memory.

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The middle words were often forgotten.Areas of the Brain. Short & long term memory stores are located in specific areas of the brain. Scanning the brain (using MRI, more commonly used to detect brain tumours), can help produce an image of active areas of the brain, seeing what region is active when doing what tasks. Tasks relating to the short term memory are thought by the Prefrontal lobe. Suggested by Beardsley (19 97). Long term memory is thought to be related to the Hippocampus.…read more

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He had impaired memory, with no short or long term memory. Specifically his episodic memory was destroyed & he remembers little of his life before 1985. He is regarded as living in the moment, by only having a procedural memory for things such as playing the piano & memories of his wife. His short term memory is functional.Lesson 6.Weaknesses of the Multi-store Model.Processes: rehearsal versus processing. Maintance rehearsal is not only way of creating long term memory.…read more

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Subsystems in short term memory.Central Executive. Supervises & coordinates the subsystems. It decides which information is attended to & which parts of the working memory to send the information to. Central executive; Monitors & coordinates all other functions in working memory.Visuo-spatial sketchpad. Sometimes referred to as the "inner eye". It deals with what information looks like & how it is laid out, dealing with visual & spatial information.…read more

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Braddeley & Hitch conclude that short term memory must have more than one component & must be involved in more than just storage. Short term memory as a "workspace" where operations could be carried out on both old & new memories. Tasks can be carried out simultaneously in short term memory provided they are carried out by different parts of the short term memory.Evidence for the central executive; Activity should be increased when performing two tasks simultaneously, rather than one after another.…read more

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The phonological loop has a role in the capacity of short term memory. The amount you can hold in your short term memory is determined by the length of time it takes to say the words NOT the number of items. It seems that the phonological loop holds the amount of information that you can say in 2 seconds. However the word length effect disappears if a person is given an articulatory suppression task, for example saying the repeatedly.…read more

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Lesson 9.Eyewitness Testimony.Eyewitness Testimony; evidence to supplied by people who witness a specific event or crime,relying only on their memory. Statements often including facial features, clothes, place, time ect.Paradox. Professionals see it as highly unreliable yet jurors find it highly persuasive. Devlin report (19 76) advised that no one should be convicted on the basis of an eyewitness testimony alone. Reconstructive Memory. Active process, combining "remembered information" with information from existing knowledge of the world.…read more

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However prior experience & knowledge may affect the results accuracy.Leading questions.Loftus & Palmer (1974). Wanted to see the effect of leading questions on eye witness testimony answers. Interested in the accuracy of memory after witnessing a car accident. Used a lab study on of an opportunity sample of 45 students. This is not a representative sample. Each were shown a video of a car crash then asked to fill out a questionnaire about what they had just seen.…read more